The Effects of Moisture Content on Mechanical Properties of Soybean (Glycine max (L) Merr.)

Some mechanical properties were determined for four varieties of soybean (TGX 297-129C, Samsoy1, TGX 306-636C and TGX 536-02D). The hardness, compressive and tensile strength determination were carried out using a Rockwell Hardness machine and tensometer. The effect of moisture content on the hardness and compressive strength of the soybean was investigated. The hardness and the compressive force versus moisture content graphs were found to be asymptotic. Hardness for the four varieties of soybean at safe moisture content of 10.93%, 9.72%, 10.11% and 12.51 % (w.b) respectively was found to be maximum at 116N/mm2 and the same for all the varieties. The crushing strength decreased with increase in moisture content for all the varieties. TGX 306-636C had the highest crushing strength of 15.10N/mm2 at 15 %( w.b) moisture content. The crushing strength for Samsoy1, TGX306-636C and TGX 536-02D were 11.9N/mm2,11.78N/mm2, and 8.10N/mm2 respectively along the minor axis of the soybean seed. JARD Vol. 2 2003: pp. 60-6